July to September

All the Trees: A Walk through Jericho Park

Join Egan Davis, Principal Instructor for the UBC Botanical Garden's Horticulture Training Program, and Holly Schmidt, artist-in-residence for a walk through Jericho Park to learn more about the trees and how they contribute to a complex ecological community. We leave promptly at noon, so please arrive on time and come prepared for the weather!

Following the walk, join artist Natalie Purschwitz for her opening of "Still Lifies" in Aberthau House.

Natalie Purschwitz |Still Lifies|Opening Reception

“Still Lifies” is a response to the unique setting of Aberthau Mansion. Both a Tudor style heritage house and a community centre for the West Point Grey area, the mansion houses an odd combination of traditional and utilitarian elements: gym mats stacked in one corner mimic the elaborate parquet flooring patterns that they rest upon, while rooms with rich, hardwood wainscoting are furnished with heavily used faux-wood end tables.

“Still Lifies” is an attempt to make aesthetic connections between the two worlds in the form of a series of site specific still lifes. The still lifes will be documented and the photos transferred onto a set of commemorative plates to be displayed in the front entrance of Aberthau Mansion.

While the still lifes themselves will only exist for one day, like so many of the events that take place in the house, the memorabilia will be all that remains of the occasion. As with selfies, the photos become the only evidence of an experience now passed.

All the trees Walk

Join Holly Schmidt, for a walk in Jericho Park to visit the trees and hear some of the messages sent to them as part of the All the Trees project.

All the Trees encourages participants to take a closer look at the trees around the Community Centre and Jericho Park. Thirty trees are tagged with an email address and an invitation to send a personal email to the tree. A group of poets, horticulturalists, historians and artists will be responding to the emails on behalf of the trees.

Artist-in-residence, Holly Schmidt, was inspired to create this project after reading about a City of Melbourne tree mapping project that invited residents to report tree damage or disease by email. Instead people started sending personal notes to the trees expressing their admiration. What do people have to say to the trees of Vancouver?

All the Trees acknowledges the support of the Artist in Communities program through the Vancouver Park Board, West Point Grey Community Centre, the Jericho Stewardship Group, and Queen Mary Elementary School.